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26 October 2006

The resurgence of the spate of ritual murders in Limpopo has had a devastating effect on many families and communities in general. It is a well known fact that there are families and communities in the recent past which have fallen victim to ritual murders in the Vhembe District and other parts of the province. Evidence has been led in various court proceedings which point clearly to the existence of this phenomenon in our province.

As a matter of fact, the recent Legislature hearings on ritual murders in the Mutale area have confirmed the view that many of our people are continuing to live in fear as a result of this crime wave. Most villagers in the Vhembe District for instance, have had to contend with despair and perpetual feelings of insecurity owing to this invisible enemy that lives amongst them. Compounding the problem has been a feeling of lack of security for women and children who occasionally have to go to streams, bushes or mountains to fetch water and firewood. There is no doubt that the resurgence of ritual murders, prevalent mostly in the Vhembe District, has brought untold suffering and generated a state of fear and anxiety on the part of many of our rural people.

Being conscious and affected by the negative consequences that these crimes have brought to our people and government, let alone unsuccessful prosecutions due to lack of sufficient evidence and maximum co-operation from members of the community, we committed ourselves early this year to set up a Police Task Team to investigate the alleged cases of ritual murders dating back to 1994. The Task Team was eventually set up in June 2006 and completed its work in September 2006.

Apart from interviewing witnesses, members of the Task Team were able to study each docket where ritual murder is alleged to be the cause of death in order to establish whether proper investigation procedures were followed or not. This helped in deciding whether certain cases warranted re-investigation or not.

On analysing the dockets, the police found that of the 47 cases investigated, most ranged from suicide (inquest) cases, culpable homicides, common murders and of course to ritual murders. On this basis therefore, murder cases were investigated and suspects were arrested, convicted and given sentences of up to life imprisonment including in those cases where ritual murder cases were clearly proven beyond reasonable doubt, viz.: (a clear example would include the highly publicised case of State vs Shumani Dzebu, Mukondeleli Phosha and others, where the accused were given heavy life sentences for the murder of Maanda Sendedza and attempted murder of Nyelisani Sidimela).

There were also many other murder cases or cases of missing persons where the police are not able to immediately determine whether they are ritually inspired or were of an ordinary criminal nature. This refers to those cases where the deceased were found murdered in the bush with no evidence of severing of body parts or human organs missing. Nonetheless, the police are continuing to investigate those cases where we feel sufficient evidence exists to secure arrests and convictions.

In line with our crime prevention strategy, the reduction of crime requires a two pronged approach, viz.: law enforcement and social crime prevention. Due to the fact that the crimes in question are caused by a wide range of factors and are committed in veiled secrecy, it would therefore be difficult to expect only members of the South African Police Service to prevent them from happening. We therefore also need a well organised partnership involving all stakeholders such as communities and businesses to strengthen police law enforcement interventions in this regard.

After studying the findings of the Task Team and informed by its recommendations, we then deemed it necessary to adopt the following set of actions:

1.1 To convene on the 16 - 17 November 2006, a multi-stakeholder provincial Summit on ritual murders to look deeper into the underlying causes and reasons for the perpetration of these crimes, including the reasons why we have an increase in the number of missing persons. The Summit will be held at Thohoyandou in the Vhembe District and will culminate into a rally in Mutale.

1.2 To implore the South African Police Service to set up a permanent Specialised Investigating Unit responsible for Ritual Murder Cases and missing persons throughout the province (similar to the disbanded SAPS Occult-related crimes unit).

1.3 To task the Limpopo Department of Safety, Security and Liaison with the responsibility to lead a multi-agency educational drive to spearhead the fight against ritual killings in the province. Such a campaign to involve the Moral Regeneration Movement, religious communities, Traditional leaders, Traditional healers, Business, Trade Unions, Community Policing Forums (CPFs), Government departments, Municipalities, SAPS, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Community-based Organisations (CBOs) as well as relevant chapter nine Institutions such as the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

1.4 To implore the South African Police Service to improve its mechanisms for tracking and searching of missing persons as soon as these cases are reported.

1.5 To impress upon the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the South African Police Service to expedite investigations and prosecutions of existing cases where community members have reasonable concerns.

We would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank members of the SAPS Task Team for executing their mandate, including members of the public who co-operated with the investigators. Our acknowledgements further go to the police stations which provided the Task Team members with docket files and case details. Many thanks also go to the MEC for Safety, Security and Liaison, the Head of Department (HOD) of the Department of Safety, Security and Liaison, SAPS provincial Commissioner and his management team for their support throughout the investigations.

Enquiries:
Mogale Nchabeleng
Cell: 072 632 8984

Issued by: Limpopo Provincial Government
26 October 2006